Chapter Four

Previously:

Nick and Elizabeth, who were thrilled with the news, weren't about to complain. "We'll manage, don't worry about that one. Nice beds are welcome any day," he told the reverend as he and Elizabeth followed the good man as he descended the steps. Soon they were in their surrey and following the reverend-who was on his horse-out of town and towards his home.

It was almost dinner time when Nick, Elizabeth and Reverend Lawson arrived at the Lawson home. From the outside, the white house with a white picket fence surrounding the yard didn't look all that large. However, once inside Nick was reminded that 'looks can be deceiving'. The living room was surprisingly quite large. Though, he wondered if the fact that the kitchen and dining room were attached to the living room-without any sort of barrier- had anything to do with that one. There was a door in the middle of the north wall and one in the corner of the northeast corner.

A white haired, medium sized woman wearing a gray gingham dress stood in front of the stove. She smiled when her husband and their guests walked through the door. Any thoughts Nick or Elizabeth were having as they surveyed the home stopped when Mrs. Lawson started speaking. "Clay, why don't you get the extra bowls down?" She looked at their guests. "You will be eating with us, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." Nick removed his hat and looked around again.

"You can hang your hat in the room you'll be using." Reverend Lawson gestured towards the door in the northeast corner.

"Thank you," Nick walked over to the door and opened it up. He wasted no time in hanging up his hat and then rejoining Elizabeth, who was seated at the table.

Nick and Elizabeth did their best to relax as they ate the delicious food Mrs. Lawson had put on the table. However, as hard as they tried to, they failed to hide just how tired they were. By the time supper was over, Mrs. Lawson was refusing Elizabeth's help in cleaning up. "You need some sleep and you need it now. I'll not be complainin'." If it wasn't for the fact that Mrs. Lawson had said she'd lived near the docks in England until she was eleven, Nick and Elizabeth might have wondered about the one sentence she'd spoken with a Cockney accent. As it was, they thanked their gracious hosts and then headed for the bedroom. When Reverend Lawson offered to push the beds together, Nick assure the kind gentleman that he and Elizabeth would be fine for the night.

Once they were inside the room, and the door was shut tight, Elizabeth looked at the beds. The two were actually quite close. It was no wonder their host had offered to make it so the beds were touching each other…there as only a foot or two between them. In between the stress of the past month and memories that now seemed to be bombarding her out of nowhere, Elizabeth found herself sitting on the edge of one of the beds with tears running down her face.

Nick, who was standing near the closed door, quickly closed the space between them. He handed her the bandana he had in his pocket and handed it to her. He felt bad as he could very well guess what things had gotten to her. Truth be to, if there had been whiskey in the house, he'd be getting stone drunk himself. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have come up with another idea only I couldn't."

Elizabeth dabbed her eyes and gave a half-hearted snort. "Don't be sorry about that. Did you hear me coming up with any?" She paused as she handed him back the bandana.

"Keep it. I can get a new one later." Nick then asked her what else was bothering her. "I saw something in your eyes when the reverend mentioned putting these beds together only," he shrugged his shoulders, "it wasn't a look of one that was…" he stopped midsentence as one of the many, serious, conversations he'd had with Elizabeth came back to him. "We were married in name for five years, the last three we had everything in the marriage. I mean, everything you'd expect. Tabitha never even came close to having a sibling."

"Elizabeth, I'm not courting you in hopes of getting an heir as it were. Sure, if things work out between us, it would be great to have a child. It's not necessary though. Besides, who's to say the problem is on your end?"

Elizabeth's one eyebrow raised just a little-as if to ask if he'd remembered what he'd been told.

Nick only gave her a quick hug. "I remember, and I still say there's a chance the blame doesn't lay at your feet. Either way, it doesn't matter to me." Nick found himself yawning. "For now, let's get some sleep. If we get up and leave bright and early, we should be able to make it to Silver Springs by nightfall. That is, if we only make absolutely necessary stops and make them as short as possible."

Elizabeth was surprised to find herself wishing that Nick had held her in his arms just a tad longer. Though, she said nothing-as she was starting to yawn too. It wasn't long before she was underneath the warm quilt that the Lawsons had on the bed. Though, as she watched Nick sleep-the man had appeared to fall asleep even before his head hit the pillow-she found herself unable to sleep. He was unlike any man she'd ever met-and she meant no disrespect to her late husband when she thought that. He had been a good man, good husband and a wonderful father. Over time she had learned to love him. Still… as she looked back through time, she had to admit there was just a little 'something' missing. She hadn't been able to figure it out back then-even now all she could do was speculate. She then thought on the unexpected desire she'd just felt to simply be held by Nick.

"Maybe I was just too young to realize what I was really getting into." She thought as she closed her eyes. "Maybe there's another level of love I never dreamt existed." Maybe…. was a thought she pushed out of her thoughts as she finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.